Abstract: Spanning the years 1920 to 1989, the collection consists of approximately six linear feet of archival material. The bulk
of the collection contains materials dating from 1920 until Myaida's retirement in 1972. The collection chiefly consists
of documents, such as letters, immigration papers, and class notes, ephemeral items, news clippings, and printed material
about gardens, flower arrangements, and landscapes. Moreover, there are hundreds of photographs related to Myaida's studies,
social activities, and garden projects. Significant documents include the family registry, licenses, naturalization papers,
and patents. While a majority of the manuscripts are written in English, a number of items such as his class notes, immigration
and travel documents, and various printed materials are in Japanese.

All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in this collection must be submitted to the Hirasaki
National Resource Center at the Japanese American National Museum (collections@janm.org).

This finding aid was created as part of a project funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
The project started in 2007. Project Director was Yoko Shimojo and the Project Archivist was Marlon Romero.

Biography / Administrative History

Between 1885 and 1924, approximately 200,000 Japanese traveled to Hawaii and 180,000 to the United States mainland. They
were predominantly young men, were well educated (with an average of eight years of schooling), and had a high literacy rate.
Mostly coming from the farming class, many of this generation of Japanese immigrants, known as the "First Wave" came to the
United States with more financial resources than European immigrants.(Ronald Takaki,
Strangers from a Different Shore (New York: Penguin, 1989), pp.45-46.) It is in this first group of Japanese immigrants that Shogo Joseph Myaida belongs.
However, while many of the first Japanese immigrants came from the agricultural fields of Japan, Myaida's background differs
from many of the Japanese of the "First Wave".

Born on June 25, 1897 in Takamatsu, Japan, Shogo Joseph Myaida (originally spelled Maeda; he adopted a spelling change to
accommodate the pronunciation difficulties of many Americans) and his family belonged to the Japanese aristocracy. Myaida's
father, who died early in his life, was a member of the Japanese parliament. His mother was a poet and a writer who also
wrote speeches for her husband. At the age of fifteen, Myaida was the only one among his brothers and sisters to be baptized
in the Christian tradition. Hence, he received the Christian name Joseph. In 1922, after taking part in a class tour of Europe,
Myaida immigrated to the United States where he pursued a career in landscape design and architecture.

Because of his family's aristocratic background, Myaida met numerous affluent and influential individuals who provided him
with employment and opportunities to work on major projects and estates. In 1941, Myaida married his personal secretary,
Grace. During World War II instead of being forcibly removed to Ellis Island, Myaida was forced to remain in Albertson, New
York. In Albertson, Myaida worked in many places, including a nursery called The Garden Clinic where he gave lectures on
flower arranging. In March 1954, Myaida received United States citizenship. Shogo Myaida retired in 1972 and lived with
his wife in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Grace died on March 26, 1989 and two months later Shogo Myaida passed away.

The strength of the collection lies in its ability to provide an insight into the personal and professional life of Shogo
Myaida as a "First Wave" Japanese immigrant. Given the contemporary dominant ethos toward Japanese and ethnic groups, Myaida's
experiences in the United States as a result of his family's priviledged status in Japan provide some contrast to the life
experiences of many Japanese immigrants who suffered harsh social and economic conditions in the United States. However,
despite his elevated social and economic background, Myaida still suffered from discriminatory United States policies, as
evident in his confinement to Albertson, New York during World War II. The Shogo Myaida Collection provides a valuable insight
into a segment of Japanese immigrant history in the United States.

The collection has been organized into nine series: Immigration and Travel, Correspondence, Projects and Garden Materials,
Publications, Education, Professional Development, Ephemera, Photographic Materials, Three-Dimensional Objects. The series
are arranged chronologically (when dates can be determined). The projects and garden materials are arranged by project with
a chronological subarrangement. Photographic prints and negatives, ephemera, and three-dimensional objects have been grouped
with related series whenever possible. In some cases Myaida numbered his prints and negatives. These have been arranged
in numerical order.

Series 1: Immigration and Travel
This series contains immigration documents and includes family and medical records from Japan. Correspondence, travel documents,
and head tax receipts are included in this series which is suggestive of contemporary United States immigration policy. The
records also indicate the influence of Myaida's family on his passage to Europe and eventually the United States. A few photographs
are also associated with this series.

Series 2: Correspondence
This series consists of letters to and from family members, friends, and professional acquaintances. The family letters provide
glimpses of Myaida's relationship with his family, especially his mother, and his attitude towards the political climate between
Japan and other nations. Included with these family letters is a document from the Federal Bureau of Investigation returning
some letters belonging to Myaida as part of their investigation into his activities during World War II. Some of the correspondence
is in Japanese. Photographs of correspondence are included in this series.

Series 3: Projects and Garden Materials
This series contains printed and photographic materials from Myaida's major projects from the 1920s until his retirement in
1972. Items are grouped together by project as this is the original order. Folders contain the following projects: Brenau
College, New York World's Fair, and Hillwood Gardens. This series also contains materials pertaining to Myaida's residential
projects. Lastly, a number of sketches of flower arrangements, architecture, and gardens give insight into Myaida's creative
and aesthetic vision.

Series 4: Publications
In addition to landscaping and garden projects, Myaida also wrote articles and a book expressing his philosophical and aesthetic
ideas on gardening, particularly on the art of Japanese gardens and Japanese flower arrangement. In this series are a number
of published and unpublished works, some of which Myaida had presented as a guest speaker at various associations. Accompanying
these works is correspondence that indicate Myaida's intention to publish some of his writings. This series also contains
newspaper clippings, articles, and publications pertaining to Japanese gardens, flower shows, and related topics. Many of
the materials were written by other individuals and collected by Myaida. Some of the items are in Japanese.

Series 5: Education
This series contains Myaida's class notes from Japan, including garden and architectural sketches and other printed materials.
Mostly in Japanese, the items document Myaida's intellectual and artistic development in garden and landscape design. This
series also includes approximately photographs taken during his school tour when he visited England, France, and Italy prior
to coming to the United States in 1922. Postcards collected during the class tour are also included. Documents related to
Myaida's travel for the summer school of architecture are located in the Immigration and Travel series.

Negatives from the Eastman Negative Album are b/w (3x5) negatives. The album is dated 7 June 1922. The album contained a
total of 45 negatives and the images are indexed in English and Japanese on the inside flap of the album. The images are of
buildings and gardens in Europe visited during the summer travel school.

Series 6: Professional Development
Arranged according to topic and activity, this series consists of curriculum vitae, correspondence, letters of recommendation
and introduction, items pertaining to membership in the American Association of Landscape Architects (ASLA), Myaida's application
for a landscape architecture license, and other materials related to Myaida's professional development. These documents provide
insight into Myaida's professional career and technical training in Japan and the United States. In particular, the letters
of recommendation and introduction reveal Myaida's numerous personal and business relationships. These letters also show
the unique social network the Myaida developed in the United States as a result of his background. Also included are two
United States patents for birdhouses.

Series 7: Ephemera
This series contains postcards from Myaida's travels, envelopes, and a map of the Royal Botanic Gardens. Business cards are
grouped with the Professional Development series.

Series 8: Photographic Materials
More than two thousand images document Myaida's projects and social activities. The collection also contains some family
photographs from Japan. The images provide a pictorial record of the places where Myaida worked and visited. Black and white
prints, black and white negatives, color prints, color slides, and color negatives are included in this series. Many of the
images have identification numbers that Myaida developed. In these cases prints and negatives have been arranged in numerical
order within sleeves. Images related to other series such as Projects and Garden Materials have been grouped with those series
and arranged chronologically.

Series 9: Three-Dimensional Objects
A few three dimensional objects are contained in the collection. Myaida's steamer trunk is grouped with the Immigration and
Travel Series and his stamp is grouped with the Professional Development series.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.

Myaida, Shogo

Japanese Americans

Landscape architecture

Gardens

Gardening

Japanese

Emigration and immigration

United States

Europe

Japan

Description and travel

Issei

Contents List

Series 1
Immigration and Travel

(Box 1 - Folder 1)

Family registry from Japan dated April 5, 1922; certified by the Mayor of Shibuya, Japan [in Japanese]

Passport issued on May 5, 1922 by the Japanese government; contains visa stamps from various countries [in Japanese]

Medical examination report dated May 8, 1922 [in Japanese]

Travel visa to France dated May 8, 1922 [photo attached]

Alien tax receipt for the sum of $8.00 dated May 9, 1922

Letter written by Le Baron Y. Nakamura dated May 10, 1922 requesting the granting of a visa from the Minister of Switzerland
for Myaida's educational travel to Europe

Letter of certification from Le Baron Y. Nakamura on behalf of Myaida regarding his intended summer travel to Europe and his
intentions to return via the United States, May 10, 1922

Letter from Professor P. H. Elwood regarding the necessary documents and fees for the travel school, May 11, 1922

Certificate of vaccination dated May 18, 1922 [in Japanese]

Income tax receipt dated June 6, 1922

Baggage declaration and entry, New York City, dated June 7, 1922

Proof that alien claiming transit priviledge has left the United States; departure from port of New York, June 7, 1922; destination
Italy

Letter from James A. Norton of Wayfarers Travel Agency, dated July 20, 1922

Statement of receipt for the balance of steamship travel; James A. Norton to Myaida dated October 2, 1922

Letter dated October 17, 1922 from J. Rak, Jr. of White Star Line to James A.Norton regarding Myaida's head tax

Letter from James A. Norton for Myaida dated October 20, 1922; attached is letter of receipt from the Canadian Pacific Railway
for collection of head tax from Myaida October 19, 1922

Letter dated November 24, 1922 from the manager of Nippon Yusen Kaisha regarding the denial of refund for head tax

Typed manuscript with editorial marks, "The 'Nageire' Japanese Flower Arrangement in Relation to American Arrangements To-Day
(Striving for Idealism in Flower Arrangement)" Parts 1-3, dated January 25, 1936

Letter from Grace Ballantyne about the publication of Myaida's article in
The Atlantic, n.d.

Letter from Grace Ballantyne regarding the publication of Myaida's article in
Coronet, n.d.

Card from
The Forum rejecting Myaida's article for publication, n.d.

Poem, "My Love in America"

(Box 2 - Folder 3)

Brochure, "The Japanese Tea Ceremony in America and Europe", (2 copies; one signed by Myaida)

Typed manuscript, "Gardening in America Today", Presented to the School Garden Association in National Conference, New York
City June 28, 1938 by Mrs. Lewis M. Dixon, Chairman Junior Department, Sea Cliff, L.I. Garden Club (9 copies)

(Box 2 - Folder 4)

List [in Japanese]; 1 page

Notes [in Japanese]; 7 pages and 1 fragment

Notes titled "Brief History of Japanese Flower Arrangement and Introduction of the Nageire", n.d.; 7 pages (4 pages on reverse
of The Ferris Garden Clinic stationery)